The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced that the Long Island Rail Road will introduce special Grand Central Direct service to Grand Central Madison beginning when facility systems testing is complete, to enable the public to begin exploring the new terminal and its route while the LIRR continues to maintain full existing schedules to Penn Station.

Grand Central Madison is the first major new downtown rail terminal to open in the United States in 67 years and the first extension of the LIRR in 112 years, since service began to Penn Station in 1910.

Grand Central Direct trains will operate between Grand Central Madison and Jamaica every 30 minutes during middays and on weekends, and hourly during weekday rush periods. They will be overlaid as additions to the LIRR’s existing timetables to ensure there are no changes to existing trains to Penn Station and other destinations.

During this initial period, the LIRR will have customer ambassadors on the Grand Central Madison concourse to greet customers and offer information about the new space.

The special Grand Central Direct service will conclude with the initiation of full train service mirroring what was put forward in draft schedules published last June. To enable travel planning, the MTA will provide at least three weeks’ notice before the new full schedules go into effect.

-via Press Release